Vodafone Announces 4G Tablet and Dongle Deals

Vodafone’s 4G service is set to go live on the 29th of August, but while phone support has obviously been the company’s priority, it hasn’t forgotten about tablets.

At launch Vodafone will be offering 4G for two different tablets, the Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 8.0 and the Sony Xperia Tablet Z. There are a couple of different pricing and data options for each. The Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 8.0 can be had with 4GB of data for £31 per month or with a 10GB allowance for £36 per month.

For that money customers would get an 8 inch tablet with a 1.5 GHz dual-core processor, 1.5GB of RAM, 16GB of built in storage and a micro SD card slot.

The Sony Xperia Tablet Z is slightly pricier coming in at £37 per month for 4GB of data or £42 per month for 10GB of data. The Sony Xperia Tablet Z is a top flight tablet with a 10.1 inch display, a 1.5 GHz quad-core processor, 2GB of RAM, 16GB of built in storage and a micro SD card slot.

Any Vodafone customers already on a tablet plan with one of the above tablets should simply be able to upgrade to a 4G plan.

EE already offer 4G tablet plans for the Apple iPad, iPad Mini, Sony Xperia Tablet Z and Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1. As a comparison, EE’s prices for the Sony Xperia Tablet Z come in at £25.99 per month for 3GB of data (plus a one off fee of £199), £30.99 for 5GB of data (with a £149 upfront fee) or £35.99 for 8GB of data (plus a one-off charge of £29).

While neither networks data plans can exactly be called cheap, Vodafone’s do seem to be slightly better value. Though of course the trade off is that Vodafone’s coverage will be a lot patchier initially.

Alongside tablet plans, Vodafone is also going to offer 4G dongles from day one. Currently only the Vodafone K5006 USB modem is available and can be had on a 12 month contract with 4GB of monthly data for £20 per month, plus a one-off £29 fee. Alternatively for 10GB of data the cost is £30 per month with a £9 upfront fee. The Vodafone K5006 USB modem is manufactured by ZTE and includes a micro SD card slot, so users can access and stream media from the modem itself.

If neither of those options seems particularly appealing Vodafone is also providing a 30-day SIM only option, which will set customers back £20 per month for 4GB of data or £30 per month for 10GB of data. So it’s a steeper price but it has the flexibility of not being locked into a 12 month contract and also allows those who already have a 4G ready dongle to make use of that rather than having to invest in a new one.

More 4G tablets will presumably be made available over time and Vodafone may even extend its range of 4G dongles too, but for day one offerings it’s not a bad selection.